Unfortunate Princess
by Chaska 1
Summary: Before becoming the Goddess of Light, who was Palutena?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Marriage Proposal

''Princess Adrianna, get down from there these instance! Your father wants to speak with you!'' Said my handmaiden, who was urging me to get down from the tree.

After I gave a bit to the apple I was eating, I said,'' I'm coming.''

I jumped from the tree and when I perfectly landed, my handmaiden was rebuking me, but, as always, I would pretend to listen and feel remorse.

After her rebuking, I told her,'' So granny Acanthi, what does my father want to tell me?

She looked at me with a mix of an angry and serious expression, and said'' Your father hasn't told me anything. Apparently, he wants you to be the only one to know.''

I was shocked because, after my mother passed away while giving birth to my little brothers, father had refused to talk to anyone.

'' By the way, how are my little brothers doing?'' I asked Acanthi.

'' Don't worry Princess, the two young heirs are doing just fine. Although they are two months old, they seemed to heir some ''habits'' from someone.'' She said while she looked at me.

'' Oh, I'm _so_ delighted to hear that.'' I told her with a plain voice.

After I said that, Acanthi was telling me to hurry and go straight to where my father was waiting for me, which was at the east side of the garden.

On the way, I saw the sculpture of my mother. Every time I saw it, I could feel her presence as if she was watching over me.

When I arrived where my father was, I saw him tending the flowers which my mother loved which were asters.

''Good morning, father.'' I said while I bowed.

''Good morning, Adrianna. I have an important matter I want to discuss with you.'' My father told me with a serious tone.

'' Have I done something wrong?'' I asked him.

'' Adrianna, I want you pay attention to what I am going to tell you.'' He told me and, after a short pause, he continued and said,'' The prince of Aton has asked for your hand in marriage.''

I lost all sense of reality, but my father continued, '' Adrianna, you are 17 years old. You have to think about the future, _your_ future. If you want, I can negate his proposal and-''

I interrupted him by saying, '' NO! Father. The kingdom of Aton is more prepared for war than us and if you negate his request then it could mean the for us.''

My father got closer to me and told me in a disgusting voice,'' I don't want to give my only daughter to a pig of his reputation.''

'' Father, I am aware his reputation like how he collects women like trophies and breaks their heart.'' I told my father.

'' If that is your choice, then I shall tell him right away.'' He said while his blue eyes were filled with sadness as if he had just put me a death sentence.

When he left, I went back to the sculpture of my mother.

She looked exactly like me, except that, instead of dark hair, I had brown hair and my eyes were green instead of red. When I saw the sculpture, I thought or rather had a feeling that this was the last time I would see it.

''Mother, give me strength.'' I said with a tear that escaped my right eye.

 _Author's note_

 _Hello. New series and please don't forget to RSS._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Reality

'' Princess Adrianna, you look so... beautiful.'' Said Acanthi, who began crying her eyes out.

I managed to calm her down and looked at the mirror and thought,'' I like the dress but I think it has too much ornament.''

A servant entered the room and said that the prince of Aton had arrived.

They all looked at me with worried eyes but I assured them that everything was going to be fine.

I went to my father's room and asked him where he was and my father said,'' He has arrived and the servants have escorted him to the main room where he is waiting for you.''

My father accompanied me to the main room where the prince and his father were waiting for us.

''Good evening, King Aegus.'' Said the prince's father.

'' Good evening to you also, King Ajax. I present to you my daughter, Adrianna.'' My father responded.

'' It's a pleasure to meet you, King Ajax.'' I said while I made a bow.

'' The pleasure is all mine, Princess Adrianna. I would like you to meet my son, Alec.'' He said.

Prince Alec was quite handsome. Now I see why a lot of girls fell for him. He had dark blue hair and mesmerizing purple eyes.

'' It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Princess Adrianna.'' He said it before he kissed my hand.

'' The pleasure is all mine.'' I said in retaliation.

My father looked at him with cold eyes and when Prince Alec felt his cold gaze, he said,'' I'm sorry your Majesty, I meant no disrespect.''

Before my father could speak, King Ajax said, '' Let's get ready for the wedding, shall we?''

While my father and the prince's father started talking about the wedding, Prince Alec insisted that I would give him a tour. I accepted.

After I gave him a tour, he said that he remembered something and headed out. I tried to follow him and saw that he was going to the room where my little brothers were sleeping.

''What do you think you are doing?'' I asked him.

'' Trying to meet my future competition.'' He told me.

''I can call the servants and guards to kick you out of here.'' I told him with a menacing tone.

He got closer to me and whispered to my ear,'' If you touch me then you know that war will happen and I would hate to see such a beautiful bride such as yourself either dead or covered in blood.''

I stood there frozen and saw how his mesmerizing purple eyes turned cold and he left me while saying in a low voice,'' Welcome to the real world, princess.''

After he left me, I went to the cradles where my little brothers where sleeping. Both of them where sleeping peacefully and I told them,'' Don't worry your big sister will be here to protect you.''

Before I left the room, I saw a shadow of someone who was outside. So, I went outside to see who it was and saw someone who was covered in a cloak, but I got to see his (assuming it was a man) long hair which had a combination of green, red and pink.

'' Hello. Who are you?'' I asked the mysterious figure.

 _Author's note_

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Meeting

'' Hello. Who are you?'' I asked the mysterious figure.

'' I am-'' He was interrupted when we heard one of the maids, probably Acanthi, asked for me.

'' I am sorry about-'' I didn't get to finish my sentence because when I looked at him, he was gone.

'' An illusion?'' I said in a low voice.

'' Princess Adrianna! There you are.'' Said Acanthi who ran to me.

'' What's wrong?'' I asked her.

'' All of the nobles of the kingdom have been summoned and your presence is needed.'' She informed me with a worried.

'' Never knew that they were so happy that I was going away.'' I said in a dry voice.

'' Hurry up! Princess Adrianna.'' Said Acanthi who left the room while not waking up my little brothers.

'' I'll be back soon.'' I told them before I left the room.

I left the room and went to the main room where EVERYBODY was waiting for me.

My father slowly came to me and said in a loud voice,'' My friends you were summoned here in order to celebrate the wedding between my daughter and the prince Alec.''

Everybody began cheering in happiness.

'' Go down and dance for a moment. Then you can go for a moment.'' Said my father with a low.

'' Thank you.'' I told him and kissed his cheek then I headed down.

When I went down, I saw my future husband flirting with some noblewomen but I didn't pay attention to him, I found myself surrounded by some noblemen who were asking me to dance with them.

After I dance with some of them, I decided to take my leave.

I quietly left the room and went to the main garden, where I found my wood sword, and began practicing my swordsmanship.

At first it was uncomfortable because I had a dress but I quickly got used to it.

After practicing for some time, I heard a noise from the bushes and asked,'' Who is there?''

The thing that went out was the same person whom I met earlier.

'' Sorry if I scared you.'' He said

 _Author's Note_

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Dance

'' Sorry if I scared you.'' He said.

'' Scared me!? No way. I'm not scared.'' I told him.

'' But, you are shaking.'' He told me.

'' I AM NOT!'' I said in a loud voice, but, then, I looked around to see if any guards had heard me.

'' What's wrong?'' He asked me.

'' There seems to be no guards around.'' I said and then pulled my wooden sword to the stranger's face.

'' Now, tell me. Why are you here?'' I asked him.

'' I am a nobleman of the kingdom of Aton.'' He told me.

'' Do you have any proof ?'' I asked him.

The stranger showed me a pendant that the king and the prince were wearing, '' I hope this will be sufficient.'' He told me.

'' Yeah.'' I told him.

He told me,'' Now, that we are alone... would you care to dance with me?''

I looked at him confused and said,'' I bet you don't know how to dance?''

He quickly and gently grabbed my hand and told me,'' I'm willing to learn.''

'' I- I'm not a good a dance, so... I'm sorry if I step on you.'' I told him nervously.

We began dancing slowly, at first, then the dance became more alive and lively. I realized that he knew how to dance, a little bit, but what surprised me most was his hand which was purple and had red tattoos.

He stopped dancing and told me,'' If my skin color scares you, I can go away.''

I looked at his orange eyes and told him,'' You dolt, you only stop dancing when the music is over.''

'' Music?'' He said.

'' Yes, music. Can't you hear nature sing?'' I told him.

'' Nature... singing?'' He said confused.

'' Just close your eyes and hear your surroundings.'' I ordered him.

I did the same and heard the wind that moved the leaves which made a soft and delicate sound along. Soon we began dancing along that music.

I opened my eyes and saw that his eyes were still close.

'' You can open your eyes now.'' I said.

'' I think it's better this way.'' He told me.

'' You are sure?'' I asked me.

'' Yes. Thank you for worrying about me, I think you are the second person that does.'' He told me.

'' Really? What about your family?'' I asked him.

'' Oh, them. The only one that cares for me is her.'' He answered me.

'' Who?'' I asked.

Before he could answer, we heard someone call for me.

'' I'm sorry, I have to go.'' I told him.

Before I was able to go, he didn't let me go and told me while looking at my face,'' Don't go, please.''

'' You can go with me. After all, you are a nobleman.'' I told him

He let go off my hands and said,'' You are right.''

 _Author's note_

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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Wedding

I went back to the castle thinking that the stranger was following me but, when I arrived where everyone was waiting for me, I realized that he was not with me.

'' Was I imagining it?'' I asked myself with a low voice.

'' There she is!'' A noble said.

Everybody turned to look at me, I showed pride in my face in order to not show that I was embarrassed.

'' My daughter, I'm glad you are here.'' My father told me while he got close in order to give me a hug.

'' I take it you were training.'' He told with a low voice.

'' What gave it away?'' I asked him with an equally low voice.

'' Your wooden sword.'' He told me while he hid my sword, so fast that I didn't notice.

After giving me the hug, he said in a loud and proud voice,'' My friends, today you are gathered here to witness the marriage between my daughter and Prince Alec. May their union bring peace to our kingdoms.''

Everybody was cheering, the musicians were playing lovely music and, as a whole, the environment seemed to be perfect.

We went to the center of the room, my father and prince Alec' father were in front of us and told us to exchange our vows, but before we began saying them, Prince Alec said,'' Everybody, I'm thankful of your presence, especially yours, Father.'' He went closer to his Father, who was expecting some grateful words of his son, and said,'' Which makes this so hard to do.''

Before us, Prince Alec pierced his father through his heart with a hidden sword and, when his Father's body reached the floor, Prince Alec, who was covered in blood, turned to see me and said,'' I do. And what about you, princess?''

 _Author's note_

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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Bloodbath

Screams were heard and my face was horrified at what he had done because all I saw was a mad and bloodthirsty monster that was standing in front of me.

With the blood of his Father covering him, he told me,'' I do. And what about you, princess?''

My Father grabbed me and put me closer to him while he told the monster,'' STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!''

'' Fine, if that is how you want it.'' Said Alec, who continuing saying,'' Guards, kill everyone.''

Immediately, the guards did what they were ordered to do,'' CEASE THIS AT ONCE!'' My father ordered them, but they didn't do it.

'' It's surprising what a human would do for some gold.'' Alec said.

My Father gave me his sword and told me,'' RUN!''

I did what he said and, when I left that hellish room, I decided to go to where my little brothers where.

When I arrived there, I saw how Acanthi was pierced through the heart by an unknown guard. When I saw that scene, something inside of me snapped and, when I managed to stop myself, I killed the guard with my Father's sword.

I was horrified at what I had done, but, when I checked how my brothers where, I saw that they were also dead.

I refused to believe what was going on and wished that it was some sort of nightmare.

After getting out of that room, I decided to head out of the castle, but each way was guarded by a guard so I had to go very carefully.

I knew of an underground way that would help me escape, which was located in the tallest building of the castle.

When I arrived there, I was going escape but I heard screams and saw that my kingdom was on fire.

'' Do you think is beautiful?'' I heard someone saying it.

I turned to see Alec.

I extended my Father's sword and told him,'' GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTER!''

When I saw his face, I realized that his face was covered with cuts,'' I take it my Father did that to you.'' I told him.

'' For being an old man, your Father sure knew how to fight.'' He said while he threw me my father's crown,'' Too bad, he is now dead.'' The monster said.

When I saw my Father's crown, my whole world died.

'' You will DIE!'' I said while I began attacking that monster.

We began fighting, our swords clashed, but I let myself be guided by my anger which led to my downfall because during the fight, he stabbed me in the stomach and left me for dead.

'' No... I... can't... die.'' I said while I closed my eyes.

 _Author's note_

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Death

I saw an image of my father, my mother, my little brothers, and everyone from the castle. They were happy and telling me to come with them.

'' I'm coming!'' I said as I was running to them.

But, someone stopped me and all of them seemed to get farther and farther away.

'' NO!'' I cried and, then, opened my eyes.

I was laying in the same place where I was fighting that monster.

I stood up and started to look around, until I spotted a guard, who was walking by.

I went to him in order to get help, but I couldn't because I passed _through_ him.

I felled to the ground and began shaking uncontrollably until someone extended his hand and told me,'' Looks like you need help.''

'' I- It's you.'' I said because I recognize the figure as the stranger whom I danced with.

The stranger was wearing a black cape.

'' What are you?'' I asked him.

Nonetheless, he helped me get up and handed me my Father's sword.

'' A friend.'' He told me.

When I got up, I asked him, '' Am I dead?''

He nodded.

'' Oh, then, shouldn't I be with the rest of my family. Why am I still here?'' I told him with tears rolling down.

I think he tried to comfort me, I wasn't sure because when I opened my eyes I saw someone getting closer to me.

'' I was the one that required of your services.'' I heard someone with an identical voice to my mother.

I looked at the woman, who wore light robes and had lavender hair that matched the color of her eyes along with some gold ornaments and a staff.

I say anything because I was unable to do it.

She looked at me for a few seconds, then approached me and told me with a motherly voice,'' Do not worry, I'm not going to hurt you.''

'' H- how is- is my kingdom?'' I struggled to say.

She looked at me with a sad look and showed me how it was.

The whole kingdom was in ruins, people were dying in the streets like dogs, there was abuse of power, among other things which I had wished not to see.

'' How much time has passed?'' I asked them.

'' 3 days.'' The woman answered me.

I couldn't believe it.

'' By the way, are the two of you, Hades and Medusa?'' I asked them.

'' Yes.'' Medusa told me.

I bowed down and said,'' I'm so sorry that I have only realized it now.''

'' Don't worry. In fact, we need you.'' She told me.

'' Why?'' I asked.

'' As a representative of I, The Goddess of Light.'' Medusa told me.

I looked at her confused and told her,'' I'm only a human. I'm not worthy.''

She went closer to me and said,'' You are more worthy than what you think.''

After saying that, she opened a hole and I fell from the sky.

 _Author's note_

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	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Time

While I was falling from the sky, I closed my eyes but I heard Hades telling me,'' It's alright you can open your eyes.''

When I did as he said, I saw that I was already on the ground, on the center plaza, to be precise, and he was close to me.

When I got up I asked him,'' So, where are we suppose to go?''

He looked at me and said,'' Wherever you like.''

I was surprised but manage to say with a serious voice,'' I would like to go to the castle.''

'' Are you sure?'' He asked me with a serious voice.

'' Is there something I should not see?'' I asked him.

'' Is just... that after everything that happened, I thought that you wouldn't like to go there.'' He said confused.

I looked at him and said,'' With or without a castle I'm still a princess let it be in life or death.''

He was surprised, but agreed.

We went to the castle, but on the way I saw that some things had changed. For example, the flags where from the homeland of the monster, and, asides from the center plaza, everything looked old and in crumbles.

When we arrived at the castle, I saw that it was different not only because of the new decorations, but also because the Corypha was blooming.

I stopped and asked Hades,'' How much time has it _really_ passed?''

He looked at me confused and said,'' What do you mean?''

Something exploded inside of me, and I said,'' DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME! LOOK AT THAT PLANT.''

I was pointing my finger to the Corypha.

'' Is something wrong with it?'' He asked me.

I grabbed his cloak and told him,'' That plant blooms once every _30_ years! Last time, I didn't see it in the palace grounds.''

He looked at me with a sad, or should I say, a pitiful expression and told me,'' For us, it has been merely 3 days but for your kind it has been 60 years.''

I let go of his cloak and said with tears escaping eyes,'' You... are joking, right!? 60 YEARS! Please... tell me it's a lie.''

He told me,'' I'm afraid not.''

He didn't even looked at my eyes.

I wiped away the tears from my eyes and decided to go inside.

I didn't care if Hades tried to stop me or not, I just wanted to witness how much things had changed.

Surprisingly, Hades didn't stop me... until I reached the room where the King was supposed to be.

He grabbed my hand and told me,'' I don't think you will like what you are about to see.''

'' I'm already dead, 60 years have passed me by, and I'm all alone. I'm don't think that there is nothing that will surprise me now.'' I told him.

Still grabbing my hand, we went inside.

I thought that he would be old, realizing that beauty is fleeting, but instead I saw that he hadn't aged a day since the massacre he committed.

He was talking with an old man, but I couldn't care less, instead I asked Hades what was going on.

'' You should listen to their conversation.'' He told me.

 _Author's note_

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	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Eternity

'' No, I want answers!'' I told him.

'' Then, listen.'' He calmly told me.

I reluctantly did what he told me.

'' Tell me, did I do something wrong back then?'' Alec asked the old man.

'' No, King Alec. Back then, you did everything right.'' The old man told him.

'' Then, why?'' Alec rises from his throne.

'' Can't I have any heirs!'' Alec said in an almost like scream.

'' I don't, my King, but, perhaps it's from the gods.'' The old man said.

'' Why? In the ritual, I found it said that in order to be eternal, one must kill the royal family of another kingdom. It said of no curse!'' Alec said.

'' Yes, it said that, my King. But, maybe the gods couldn't believe that a mortal could do it and, in retaliation, they gave you this curse.'' The old man said without any fear.

Alec return to his throne and calmly said,'' Each night, since the accomplishment of the ritual, I dream of that princess, who is covered in blood and, as she grabs a sword, asks me if I regret what I did. Do you want to know my answer?'' Alec said.

The old man didn't say anything, he only nodded.

'' I always answer her that I regret nothing!'' Alec said with a smile as he was returning to my father's throne.

'' I can't take this anymore.'' I said as I walked away from there.

I started to run as fast as I could, I didn't know or care if Hades was following, all I wanted to do was... run away.

I fell down somewhere, but I felt no pain and, instead of standing up, I laid there crying and saying,'' Why? I never asked for this.''

It didn't take long for Hades to find me and, when he did, he offered me his help by saying,'' A princess should not be in the floor crying... You are stronger than this.''

I kept crying as he helped me get up and found a place where we could sit down.

I don't how much time I was crying, but, when I stopped, it was already night.

'' I'm sorry.'' I told him.

'' The ones that should be apologizing are the gods, not you.'' He told me.

'' You know that you are one of them?'' I told him.

'' Yes, but I never felt accepted by them. The only one that accepted me was Medusa.'' He told me.

After a brief silence, I asked him,'' Why were you at the castle, back then?''

Hades sighed, then told me,'' I was told that I had a lot of souls to collect.''

I was going to tell him to take me back, but all of the lights turned on and a music, which I recognize, began to play.

All the couples began to head to the plaza.

'' I think that-'' I didn't finish to hear him because I began to ran to the plaza.

When I arrived there, I saw that it was still the same.

All the lights were on, the couples began to dance and the music was everywhere.

I could have stayed there forever until I heard someone say,'' STOP!''

 _Author's note_

 _Sorry that I haven't uploaded a lot, but enjoy this chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Change

'' STOP!'' Someone said.

Everybody turned to look at the tall soldier that said that, who soon got joined by other soldiers.

'' You know that this dance is forbidden by the King.'' The tall soldier said.

'' But, this is a part of our culture.'' A man said.

Soon, the rest of the soldiers had them surrounded.

'' Go to your houses or the plaza will be filled with blood.'' The tall soldier said.

Only 2 couples left while the rest stayed.

'' We will stay here until our last breath.'' Someone said.

'' Have it your way.'' The tall soldier said with a smile.

All of the soldiers started to massacre all of the people.

'' Stop it!'' I screamed as I was trying to stop it all.

But, the swords would go through as if I wasn't there.

I looked at Hades, who was just standing, and went to him.

'' PLEASE, STOP THIS!'' I was begging him to do over and over until there was no more noise and the plaza was covered with blood.

'' Why?'' I said when I looked at him.

'' I'm sorry.'' He told me.

I closed my eyes for a moment and, when I opened them, I was standing before Medusa.

'' YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED THIS!'' I screamed at her.

'' Gods are not suppose to intervene in human affairs.'' She told me.

I wanted to scream but didn't find the words.

'' But, a representative can.'' She told me.

With tears falling from my eyes, I told her,'' I'll be your representative.''

'' Are you sure?'' She asked me with a worried tone.

Suddenly, all the memories of my loved ones appeared before my eyes.

'' Yes.'' I told her with no regrets.

'' Very well.'' She told me.

Suddenly a veil of light surrounded me and then... darkness.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Incident

"Wake up." Someone told me.

"Please, wake up." The voice told me which made me slowly open my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry, but someone told me, "You had me worried for a moment."

Then, it became clear and I saw that besides me was a tall man with brown hair and wearing the same cloak that I was wearing, and he asked me, "Is something wrong?"

"Who are you?" I asked him.

The man whispered to me, "It's me… Hades."

I looked at him in disbelief until I saw his red tattoos, which he tried to hide once he realized that I saw them.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked him with worry.

"Let's just say that I'm not too fond of my markings." He told me.

Before I could say anything, he told me, "Anyway, as you have probably realized, we are both humans, except that I can change from my human form to the other form."

"Is this permanent?" I asked him.

"With you, it's different. You will remain in your human form until you die in that form or you're done as the representative. " He told me.

"What happens if I die?" I asked him.

He didn't look at me, but said, "If you were to die, then either you will be reborn or a new body would have to be created for you."

Suddenly, my stomach began to growl.

"Is this normal?" I asked embarrassed.

"Yes." He told me.

I stood up and asked him, "I don't think that neither of us have any money."

"Check your pocket." He told me.

I did what he told me and realized that I had money.

"When did this get here!?" I asked him.

"You can thank Medusa for that." He told me.

I gave a little thanks and asked him, "Do you know where we could eat? After all, I was dead for 60 years. "

"No, but we could explore together." He told me, which seemed fair enough.

We started to walk and I saw that in every street there were beggars or people that were dying, yet everyone ignored them as if they didn't even exist, which frightened me.

"I think we could eat here." I said when we stopped near a place.

"Are you sure?" He asked me.

"Yes." I told while I began to shake.

We entered and I realized that it was a pub, but the food that I was seeing seemed enjoyable.

"Are you sure you want to eat here?" Hades asked me.

"Eat, not drink." I told him.

When we found a table, we heard the door opened and two soldiers stepped in.

"Hey, a little attention here!" One of the guards said which made one of the waitresses go immediately to him.

"I-is there s-s-something I-I could do for you?" The girl nervously asked the guard while watching the floor.

"Lift your head and look at me." The guard ordered her.

The girl did as she was ordered.

"Hey, Philip, she's catch, right?" The guard said to the other guard.

"She's a catch indeed, Edward." Philip said.

"Leave this dump and come with me for a moment." Edward said.

"I'm sorry, b-but I can't." The girl nervously told him.

"I wasn't asking." Edward told her as he forcefully grabbed her arm.

I saw as every person was looking at the guards with a murderous look in their face. So, I did the most logical thing that occurred to me. I grabbed a beer, which was nearby, and threw it to the guard who was grabbing the girl's arm.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and I'm sorry that I took this long! Don't forget to RSS._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Trap

"She said that she doesn't want to go with you or are you deaf?" I said.

Everybody, except for the two guards, began to laugh.

"Silence!" The guard, who was wet, screamed while the other guard unsheathed his sword.

The wet guard looked at me and said, "Who are you?"

Before I could say anything, Hades said, "First, I would recommend that you tell the other guard to stand down if you want to talk with my friend."

"And, if I refuse?" The guard with the sword said.

"Look around you." Hades said while pointing out at the people in the bar.

"None of us wants this to end up in a bloodbath, do we?" Hades said which made the guard sheathe his sword.

"Now, tell me your name." The wet guard told me.

"I am… Arius and my friend is Jeevak." I said with a deep voice.

"I'll remember that." The wet guard said before he left the bar with the other guard.

When they left, everybody looked at me and Hades with awe. And, then, the girl, who was earlier harassed by one of the guards, told me, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me." I told her with a deep voice, but then Hades said, "Well, we better have to go to another place to eat, right _Arius_?"

"None of that." Said a big, muscular man. "I'm the owner. And, seeing how you saved one of my girls, I must invite you something to eat."

"Thank you, but-" I stopped listening to Hades, when I began noticing our surroundings and realized that for a bar none of the clients looked drunk. Instead, they all looked to be in good physical condition… almost like professional soldiers.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't asking." The owner said and before I knew it there was a knife close to my throat and Hades' throat.

"It was an order." The owner said.

 _Author's Note_

 _I'm back! I'm sorry that I took this long but things are getting pretty crazy in my life which has made almost impossible to write. But, anyways, I hope you like this and don't forget to RSS!_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Proposition

"It was an order." The owner said.

Quickly, we were taken to an isolated, hidden room. When we arrived there, the owner ordered his men to remove our cloaks that were covering our faces. But, Hades said, "I don't think that will be necessary."

When Hades finished saying that, he removed his cloak, revealing his face and said, "Unless you want to visit the Underworld." Hades grabbed the knife that was close to his throat and, swiftly went close to the owner and put the knife close to the owner's neck and said, "If you value your boss's life, I would suggest that you put away your knife from my partner's throat."

The man, who had his knife close to my throat, looked at his boss and slowly put away his knife. Once the man finished putting away his knife, Hades said, "Know with that out of the way, we can talk like civilized people." Hades discarded the knife, went close to me, and said to the owner, "Are you going to tell us why you threaten us after my partner saved one of your girls?"

"It's not every day that we receive clients such as yourselves. Plus, your cloaks and your skills don't make you look innocent." The owner said which honestly was kind of a good point.

"And, yet, you and the people that work for you look more dangerous than us." I said with a deep voice.

"When you live in a kingdom ruled by the unkillabe tyrant, you must look and be dangerous." The owner replied.

"Unkillable?" I asked.

"I'm sure that, wherever you came from, you must have heard about the unkillable tyrant, Alec, or am I mistaken?" The owner said.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but my partner and I come from far way lands that have not heard about this tyrant." Hades said.

The owner looked at us with disbelief and asked us, "How do I know that you are telling me the truth?"

"Oh, come on, if we weren't telling you the truth, then, you would have already died, or am I wrong?" Hades said while looking at the owner, who briefly looked at Hades with an angry expression.

The owner smiled and said, "You're right."

Yet, I knew that his smile was fake and that he, very probably, didn't trust us and wanted to kill us. But, that didn't stop me from asking the owner, "With that out of the way… What did you mean when you said that this monster is 'unkillable'?"

"I said tyrant, not monster." The owner told me.

"Same thing. Answer me or you'll have worst things to deal with." I told him venomously.

The owner looked at me with a surprised look and said, "He has not aged for 60 years and all of the attempts to end with his life have failed… Now that I think about it 'monster' would be a better title for that tyrant."

I looked at him and asked him, "And, have you tried?"

The owner got closer to me and said, "Every single day of my life."

Upon getting closer to me I realized that his face was filled with faint scars and that his right eye was a glass eye painted to look like a real one.

"In fact, I think that we have gotten better acquainted with. So, I would like to make a proposition with you." The owner said.

"Speak." I told him.

"Would you join in my crusade to kill the tyrannical monster?" The owner asked.

Without thinking about it, I said, "I would love nothing more."

The owner smiled and told me, "Thank you, Arius, oh… and my name is Xenias."

 _Author's note_

 _New chapter! I'm planning in introducing some unexpected events and characters, so stay tuned and don't forget to RSS!_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Change of appearance

"All right… Xenias, but I don't if my-" Before I could finish, Hades said, "If my partner accepts, so do I. Plus, you will need more experienced people in the battlefield."

After Hades said that, Xenias told us to stay in the pub to which we accepted.

Some of his men guided us to the little 'room' where Hades and I were going to stay in until we told otherwise. When we were left alone, I said, "I'm sorry for getting you into this." Hades looked at me surprised and told me, "I chose to follow you and if some should apologize… It would be me."

I looked at him and asked him, "Did the gods invent the ritual that supposedly made this monster 'unkillable'?"

"Once upon a time, all of us gods made the ritual to give eternal youth to the one who completed the bloody ritual. Of course, back then, none of us thought that humans could possibly accomplish it and, as you can see, we were wrong." Hades told me.

"Is that why none of the gods intervened when my entire family was slaughtered?" I asked him to which he only, carefully nodded.

"But, the ritual only gives him eternal youth, right?" I asked him.

"And, infertility, thanks to the gods." Hades added.

"That means that he can be killed." I said with an unusual happiness.

"But, are you willing to do it?" Hades asked me.

"What do you mean? He killed my entire family! Why wouldn't I want to kill him!?" I told him.

"It's easy to say it now, but just imagine what you would have to do… You would have to kill someone with your owns hands. Can you really live with that?" Hades told me.

I wanted to tell him that I could and _would_ live with that, but when I thought about it… I realized that I couldn't. I instantly remembered the soldiers that I used to admire so much as a child because of their fearlessness that they demonstrated, yet I realized the traumatized looks that the newest soldiers had when they arrived from the battlefield. Even my father, who taught me how to fight, would, from time to time, show a look of sadness and guilt when he saw me using my wooden sword.

But, Hades manage to get out of that thought when he told me, "On the bright side, everyone here thinks that you're a boy."

"And, why is that good?" I asked him.

"It helps to conceal your identity. I mean, imagine if they found out that you were the princess." He told me.

"By the way, who taught you how to defend yourself?" I asked Hades in order to change the topic.

"Living with the gods can teach you a way or two on how to defend yourself. Also, I learned some tricks by watching the memories of some of the souls in the Underworld, who died in some… Colorful ways." Was all Hades told me.

"And, what about your tattoos? Why didn't anyone seem to notice them before?" I asked him.

"The only ones who can see the tattoos are the dead or… special cases." He told me.

I wanted to ask what the 'special cases' were, but I realized that he wouldn't answer me. And, after some time passed, someone knocked the door and told us that Xenias was requesting our presence. I was going to go, but Hades stopped me and told me with a low voice, "You're not going to meet him like that."

"Why not?" I asked him with a low voice.

"Your hair… It's too long." He told me with a low voice.

"What do you plan to do? Cut it?" I asked him with a low voice.

"Something tells me that you don't want to cut it and I have a better idea." He told me with a low voice.

After a few seconds, Hades managed to hide my long hair and made it look short, giving me the appearance of a handsome boy.

"What else do you have left to surprise me with?" I asked him with a low voice.

"Many other things, but for now I would recommend to keep your deep voice." He told me with a low voice as we were heading out of the little 'room'.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter! And, as for Palutena's short hair… just imagine (SPOILER WARNING) Lucina's hair as 'Marth'. Don't forget to RSS!_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Plan

When we got out of the little 'room', we found out that the person who was knocking the door was the girl I had saved earlier.

"Y-you ready to follow me?" She nervously asked us.

"Yes." I told her with a deep voice.

"All right, follow me." She told us.

We followed her until she stopped in the middle of a dark room, where she said, "We're here."

Slowly, people in dark clothes started to get closer to us until Xenias stepped forward and told us, "You're ready to come with us?"

"What's the plan?" I asked him.

"My people will take out there places that I already told them us for you two… you'll serve as bait or distractions." He told us.

"Really?" I asked him.

"You'll have the closest chance to kill the tyrant, but I must warn you about his 'bodyguards'." Xenias said.

"Bodyguards?" I asked.

"People who are the tyrant's personal elite. They wear masks to hide their identity, so no one knows who they truly are. And, they have protected the tyrant ever since he rose to power… Or so I've heard." Xenias said.

"How much threat do these bodyguards pose?" I asked Xenias.

"A lot, but now we have to focus on you on getting in." Xenias told me as he handed me a pair of shackles.

"What are these for?" I asked him.

"In order to enter the palace, you'll have to wear this." Xenias said.

"So that everyone in the palace will think that we are prisoners, am I right?" Hades asked.

"Precisely." Xenias said as he handed us a pair of knives, "But, you're going to need this."

"When are we going to go to the palace?" I asked Xenias.

"Now." Xenias said.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Execution

We managed to arrive at the palace that was once my home. But, we were stopped at the gate by a guard who asked, "Why do you come here?"

Xenias, who was disguised as a guard, said, "I brought rebels to be put to the dungeons."

The guard looked at Hades and me, then, said while pointing at us, "Why are they wearing those cloaks?"

"We found it the only way to hide their monstrous faces." Xenias said.

"Let me see them, so that I can see that you're telling me the truth." The guard said.

"I'm warning you that this is nothing like what you have seen before." Xenias said.

"Don't underestimate me." The guard said.

The guard removed the upper part of my cloak that was covering my face and terror was the only emotion on the guards face.

Even though I haven't seen the craftsmanship that one of Xenias' men had done to my face, from the look of the guard's face, I could see it was effective.

"Will you let us pass?" Xenias asked the guard.

Without a word, the guard opened the gate.

When got inside, I could barely hold back the tears because even though 60 years have passed I could still see it as my home.

"Don't cry, this is not your home anymore." Hades reminded me.

"I know." I said.

"Yet, I feel like it still is." I thought.

When we manage to get close to the dungeons, Xenias said, "Now."

Quickly, Hades and I got rid of the cloaks and the craftsmanship that was in our faces. Then, I asked Xenias how much time we had.

"Not a lot. But, use it at its maximum." He told us as we separated.

When we were walking in the halls, I realized that none of the guards were paying attention to Hades and me… Perhaps it was because Hades and I were wearing the same garments as the other guards. But, I stopped walking when I saw that the statue of my mother was still intact.

"Mother." I said in a low voice.

"I take it you heard about the deceased Queen Kritanta." An old man told us.

"I heard that she was the most beautiful and kindest woman to ever live." I told the old man.

"Indeed she was, as far as I've heard. Yet, many kings fought over her hand until King Aegus took her as his wife. Sadly all of her family passed away 60 years ago." The old man said.

"Why is her statue still here?" I asked the old man.

"Honestly, I don't know. I believe that King Alec liked to have it here because he's impressed by the deceased Queen's beauty." The old man said.

When I looked at the old man, I realized that he was the old man whom Hades and I had seen with that monster. Yet, when I looked at the old man I sensed something… Old and wise from him.

Bells began to ring and the guards began to run.

"You should hurry to the main room; the King doesn't like it when his men arrive late." The old man told us.

Hades and I followed the guards until we enter the room, where all of the guards where and Xenias and his men where there as well.

When I spotted them, we managed to regroup and went to the last line of the guards who were also regrouping in a square formation as the doors were open again.

"Glory to King Alec!" All of the guards said in unison.

The monster entered the room as if he was a dignified king and said, "Where is Edward?"

Suddenly, Edward stepped out and said, "I'm here, my King."

The monster headed towards Edward and asked him, "Is it true that you were defeated by an apparently untrained peasant?"

Another soldier, Philip… I think, stepped forward and said, "My King, I can ex-" The monster interrupted him by saying, "Ubaid, slit his throat."

Out of nowhere, a stranger with a black mask appeared behind Philip and slit his throat.

I could see Philip desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but Ubaid grabbed Philip's arms, broke them and watched Philip die of blood. Yet, this gruesome scene didn't seem to bother the monster, who simply didn't even notice its existence.

"Now, answer me Edward was it true what I heard?" The monster asked him again.

"It is, my King." Edward said.

"Too bad. You left me no choice." The monster said as he quickly used his sword to slash Edward's stomach.

It was horrible. Even though my view was limited, I could see Edward's blood coming out of his stomach and Edward was using his arms to stop his internal organs from coming out.

"A King can't have weak soldiers such as you." The monster said.

"My… King." Were the last words Edward said before he collapsed to the floor.

The monster looked at his terrified soldiers and asked them what was wrong, but none of the soldiers spoke due to the fear that possessed them.

The monster slowly walked among his soldiers and said, "What? Don't tell me that you are scared of me just because I made an example of those weaklings."

The monster was slowly walking towards where I was.

"Come closer, you monster, so that I can end your life!" I though as I was grabbing the knife that Xenias gave me earlier.

"What do you think?" The monster didn't asked me, instead the monster asked Hades.

"Answer, soldier. I asked you a question." The monster asked.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter! I honestly didn't think I would ever write Philip's and Edward's death, but I did. Don't forget to RSS!_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Failure

"My King, if I may be so bold, I think that a King should kill the weak in order to show an example." Hades told him with a calm tone.

"Finally, someone who understands." The monster said.

"But, now, I have for you my King." Hades said.

"What is it?" The monster asked.

"My King, what is a King?" Hades asked which made the monster laugh uncontrollably.

"A King is someone who has absolute power and control over everything and everyone. Didn't your parents teach you that?" The monster said.

"But, you should know that a King must be wise and fair towards the people who serve him." Hades corrected the monster.

"What do you mean, _soldier_?" The monster asked.

"I'm saying that the person who is currently calling himself a _King_ is actually an ignorant barbarian." When Hades finished saying that, the monster's eyes flared with anger and almost slashed Hades, but I used the knife that Xenias gave me in order to block the monster's sword.

"Ubaid, kill these soldiers." The monster ordered his bodyguard.

I didn't have time to react, but Hades used the sword Xenias gave him to defend me from the monster's bodyguard.

"Ubaid, Devyn, Ebed, Khadim! Kill them!" The monster ordered and soon other 3 bodyguards emerged from the shadows, but luckily Xenias and his men were ready to fight with us even though we were outnumbered.

"Thank you." I said in a low voice.

Soon, the monster's soldiers and bodyguards began to fight us.

One swing after another, I managed to block with the sword that Xenias gave me yet the hardest one to battle was Ubaid, who somehow managed to block every single of my attacks.

Sadly, I realized that Hades, Xenias and his men as well as I were losing our strength and surely we would perish. So, I got closer to Xenias and his men and told them that Hades and I would fight the monster, his soldiers, and bodyguards while Xenias and his men would search for an exit.

"I would rather die than leave you behind!" Xenias said as he killed two soldiers that were close to me.

"And, so would we!" Xenias' men responded in unison.

"You will safe us! Now go!" I ordered them.

While they were searching for an exit, the fight became way harder, yet I knew that I could count on Hades to protect my back while I protected his.

When Xenias and his men found an exit, we quickly rushed to where they were, but I was stopped by Ebed who almost managed to stab me if I hadn't stopped.

Swiftly, Hades stabbed Ebed in his arm and managed to remove Ebed's mask.

"Theseus?" Hades asked surprised.

Yet, whoever these 'Theseus' was didn't seem to recognize Hades and was ready to stab him, but I managed to protect Hades.

"Run!" I ordered Hades, who did as I commanded.

Even though I don't have clear memories of what happened, I remember running without stop as if death was one step behind me. When I stopped running, I realized that we were in a forest far away from the city, the palace, and the monster's wrath.

"Princess Adrianna." Hades whispered to my ear.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"You should rest." He told me.

I realized that I had more severe cuts and bruises than Xenias and his men, yet I still wanted to go on.

"No. I can do this." I told Hades, but it didn't take long for Xenias and his men to realize the critical condition I was in.

What soon followed were questions about if I could even stand and the next thing I did was close my eyes and succumb to the darkness that was calling my name.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Briefly awake

"Adrianna, wake up. It's morning." A familiar voice told me.

"Please, let me sleep more time." I said.

"It's morning, love. You must wake up." Another familiar voice told me.

I open my eyes and saw my mother and my father as they smiled at me and told me in unison, "Good morning, baby."

Quickly, I hugged her and said, "Mom! Dad! It's really you."

Tears of joy began to escape my eyes as I told them "I had these horrible nightmare were both of you were dead and I-"

"That's real." My father told me.

"What!?" I said.

"This is the dream." My mother said as both she and my father were fading away.

"No! Don't leave me." I said as they were both disappearing in my grasp.

"NOOO!" I screamed, then, opened my eyes to see that I was inside a small tent.

"Thank the gods, that you are awake!" Hades told me.

"Hades, where am I?" I weakly asked him.

"You're in the tent of one of camps of the rebellion." He answered me.

"The rebellion?" I asked him.

"I'll explain later, you need to rest." He told me.

"No, I can-" I didn't get to finish my sentence because of the pain I felt when I tried to stand up.

"I told you. You must rest." He told me as he helped me to slowly return to the 'bed' where I was sleeping in.

When I was in the 'bed', I asked him, "What's going on?"

"For starters, after you fell down everybody was able to see your long hair and figured out that you are a woman. And, I brought you to the main camp." He said.

"You carried me?" I asked him.

"Yes, and… you're heavier than what you look." He told me with a chuckle.

"You're mean." I playfully told him.

"Anyways, you've been asleep for three entire days." He told me.

"That long!?" I asked him.

"You did have severe wounds along with a high fever that lasted two days." He informed me.

"What about you?" I asked him.

"Compare to yours, my wounds were nothing." He told me and I could see a sad and remorseful expression in his face.

"You mentioned something about a rebellion." I told him in order to change the subject.

"I don't think it's a good time to talk about that." He told me.

"Why?" I asked him.

"You haven't healed yet." He told me as he pointed at my wounds.

I could feel as my strength was leaving me and my eyes were getting heavy, but, before I closed my eyes, I asked Hades, "Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" He asked me.

"Can you be here when I wake up, please?" Those were the final words I said before I closed my eyes one more time.

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry that this chapter is short, but don't forget to RSS!_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: New names

It took an entire week for my wounds to heal (even though some wounds left as scars as a reminder that they were once there) and another week to recover my strength. Yet, every time I opened my eyes, Hades was always there and helped me in any way he could.

"You don't have to do this." Sometimes I would tell him that, to which he responded me with, "After everything that you went through, this is the _least_ thing I could do for you."

After those two weeks were over, I had recovered my strength and was able to stand and walk on my own. But, when the rest of the main camp knew about that, I had a feeling that they would ask questions about my past which made me nervous.

When I saw Hades, I asked him, "Is it morning?"

"Yes and everyone is waiting for you." He told me.

"Define 'everyone'." I told him.

"10 people at most. Xenias is among them." Hades informed me.

"Thanks." I told him.

"We can escape right now, if you want to." He told me.

"Let's trust them." I told him.

When we headed out, I saw Xenias along with the other 3 men who were with us when we entered the castle, and I saw the other 6 people remaining, half were men while the other half were women. But, one of the 'men' was actually a child, who had a burn scar that covered half of his face, was holding a little poor made book, and appeared to be 7 years old… Somehow, the idea of this kid getting into battle made me sick.

"So, I see that you have gotten better." Xenias said.

"Yes and I must thank you for providing me and my partner with these clothes." I said as I pointed out the black tunics, brown pants, and brown sandals that Hades and I were wearing.

"You must thank the ladies and not me." Xenias said as he pointed out at the 3 women I saw and then continued saying, "But, first, who really are you two?"

I quickly glanced at Hades and then looked back at Xenias and told him, "We are just foreigners."

All of them looked unconvinced and Xenias said, "We know that, but can we trust you!?"

I responded by saying, "Didn't my partner and I fight with you? Didn't I almost die!? I think that's enough proof that we are in your side. Otherwise, if we weren't, would we have done all of that?"

"As for were we come from… Believe us that you don't want to know." Hades added.

"Then, what are your names? If you want us to trust you then the least thing you could do is to tell us your names." The seven year old boy told us with a voice that belonged to a man in his late 40's.

"My name is-" Before I could finish saying my sentence, one of the men that we fought with in the castle said, "The name of the warrior is Tesha and her companion's name is Ehno. That's what I heard them calling each other while they were fighting."

"Hey, Tristan, did you really hear that or are you just covering for them because the girl is pretty?" One of the woman asked him.

"Oh, come on, Flora. I wasn't the only one who heard them saying those names to each other, right boys?" Tristan said and the other men, who fought with us in the castle, agreed. Then, Tristan asked us, "Those are your _real_ names, right?"

"Yes." Hades said, therefore, lying for the both of us.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter! I'll put a new chapter later and Merry Christmas to all of you!_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Solidifying a lie

"Yes." I said when I realized that not everyone was convinced.

"You see I was right." Tristan said.

"For once." Flora said.

Soon, Flora and Tristan started bickering with each other until Xenias told them to stop.

"It appears that my men trust you." Xenias told us.

"It appears so." Hades said.

"You said you are foreigners, right?" Xenias asked.

"Yes." I answered.

"Then, why come here? Is the land were you come from truly much worse than this one?" Xenias asked us.

"The land were we come from was originally very pleasant until calamity arrived and we had to leave." I told him.

"What do you mean by 'calamity'?" Xenias asked me.

"Something much worse than what you are suffering right now." Hades said.

"But, why come here? You could have gone to other lands and lived a more prosperous life." Xenias asked.

"You could just say that the wind brought us here. Plus, the other side of that question is why do you remain here? I mean don't take me wrong, I admire the dedication you have to fight, but why not leave and settle somewhere else?" Hades asked.

"I will accept your answer for my question. And, as for your question, I can only give you my answer because the rest have other motives of why they decided to stay. I choose to remain here and fight to end the tyranny and suppression that everyone is living under. And, if I choose to leave, then I'm no better than the tyrant who has forgotten the most important rule than any leader must know." Xenias said.

"And, what is the rule?" Hades asked, but I already knew the answer.

"A leader is chosen to serve not to be served." Xenias said in a tone that reminded me of my father.

"Well, with that put aside. I think we have your trust, right?" I said.

"You have mine. But, I don't know about the rest." Xenias told us.

"You also have mine." Tristan said.

I looked at the rest and saw that doubt remained in their face.

"I hope that you can trust my partner and I." I said.

They all looked at me surprised at me and yet remained silent until Xenias asked them if they wanted us to stay.

Surprisingly, all of them agreed for us to stay, but Hades and I could still see that some of them were ready to kill us if they saw the sudden hint of betrayal.

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry I took this long, but don't forget to RSS!_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Little Happiness

After the little reunion with everyone, the rest of the day was pretty normal.

At first, I wanted to help around the camp, but everyone would always tell me that they didn't need any help, so I went to train with Hades although he would always let me win and, when I would ask him why he did that, he would tell me, "I'm not as good as you."

During dinner, things started to get interesting.

While Hades and I were eating, we noticed that everyone, except for Xenias and Tristan, were quietly observing us as if they were analyzing our every move.

"So, how is your land like?" The apparent seven year old asked us.

"It was filled with life and happiness, but now… Let's just say it's the total opposite." I told him.

"I see." The apparent seven year old told me.

"By the way, what is your name?" I asked him.

"My name is Ligo." He told me.

"Well, nice to officially know your name, Ligo." I said.

Tristan ruffled Ligo's hair and told me, "The voice made it apparent but this man over here is 42."

That actually surprised me and Hades, who asked, "Is that true?"

After Tristan stopped ruffling Ligo's hair, Ligo said, "Yes and Tristan is 26, but has the maturity of a seven year old."

"Hey! That's harsh, Ligo." Tristan said.

"But, it's the truth." Ligo told him.

Then, both of them began to fight with each other, but it looked more like two brothers playfully fighting each other by telling each other's weaknesses but not going too far. It made me smile and think if I would have had the same relationship with my little brothers if they were still alive.

Soon, everybody began to laugh, including Ligo and Tristan, and, even though it was brief, it felt as if all of us were a family.

After dinner, we all started to leave, but Tristan managed to catch up to me and Hades.

"Is something wrong, Tristan?" I asked him.

"I just wanted to talk to you… Privately." He told me and Hades looked uncomfortable.

"Is there a reason why you want to speak with her privately?" Hades asked.

But, before Tristan said anything, I said, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing important."

"You sure?" He asked me.

"Yeah." I said.

Then, Hades left.

 _Author's Note_

 _New Chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Talk

When Hades left, I turned around and said, "Where do you want to talk?"

Tristan smiled and said, "Please, follow me."

We walked for a bit until we reached a secluded part of the forest where the main camp was in. The secluded part where we were was beautiful because there was a big lake on top of it there were various fireflies that appeared to be dancing and adding the brightness of the full moon… It was a simple, quiet, yet beautiful sight to behold.

"Do you like these place?" Tristan asked me.

"Yes, it's very beautiful." I told him.

"I'm glad you like it, Princess Adrianna." Tristan told me.

I looked at him with surprise and asked him, "How- Why did you call me that?"

Tristan said, "Well, you could say I had my own missions which involved infiltrating the palace. And, during one of my missions, I saw the statue of Queen Kritanta. Then, I saw you and realized how much you looked like the deceased Queen and I heard your partner calling you Adrianna."

"Is that all?" I asked him.

"Yes. Although, I have one little question to ask you." Tristan told me.

"Which is?" I asked.

"After we destroy the tyrant, are you going to ascend to the throne?" He asked me.

"I don't think so." I told him.

Tristan looked at me with surprise and said, "Really?"

"Yes. Does that bother you?" I asked him.

"In a way, I mean, if you are related to the deceased Queen Kritanta, then the throne is legally yours." He told me.

"Tristan, would you believe me if I told you I was Queen Kritanta's daughter?" I asked him.

"What!? I don't know if you're trying to be funny or something like that, but that's impossible! I would believe you if you said that she was your grandmother or great-grandmother." Tristan said.

"Guess, you're right. And, asides from you, who else knows?" I asked him.

"Xenias." He immediately told me. Then, he sighed and continued saying, "If the rest found out that we had a Princess fighting along our side then I assure that difficulties would rise."

"Why?" I asked him.

"Let's just say that, thanks to the tyrant, not all of us have an appreciation for royalty." Tristan told me.

"Does that group involve you and Xenias?" I carefully asked him.

"No. Xenias judges a person by his or her personality and loyalty. As for me, first I go for the looks then by the latter two." He told me.

"I see." I told him.

"Anyways, I think that we should return to the main camp or the rest will get suspicious." He told me.

I glanced at the lake and saw that some fireflies stopped shining, then I looked at him and said, "You're right we should leave."

Both of us started walking towards the main camp and, in the way, Tristan said, "So, if you ever had children, then you wouldn't tell them of their lineage?"

"What makes you think that I'll have children?" I asked him.

"Well, with your lover and I-" I interrupted him when I said, "W-WHAT!? I DON'T HAVE a lover!"

"Isn't your partner also your lover?" He asked me.

"NO! What made you think that!?" I asked him.

"By the way he treats you as if you were the only person in the world. And, someone with my experience, knows to differentiate someone who id faking to be in love from someone who actually is." Tristan told me.

"Just to make it clear, he is NOT my lover and we are ONLY partners, nothing else." I clarified it to him.

"Whatever you say, Princess." Tristan told me.

After walking for some time, we arrived at the main camp and I saw that Hades was waiting for me.

 _Author's Note_

 _New Chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Accidental Link

When Tristan saw Hades, Tristan told me, "It has been a pleasure, but I have to go now."

Tristan went away while Hades was walking towards me and, when Hades was close to me, Tristan was far away.

"What did he tell you?" Hades asked me in a low voice.

"He and Xenias both know that I'm a Princess, but they think that I'm a descendant of my mother rather than her daughter." I told him in an equally low voice.

"Is it safe to remain here?" Hades asked me in a low voice.

"For the moment it is." I told him in a low voice.

We walked for some time until we reached the place where I was sleeping and I told Hades, "You no longer need to be there when I wake up."

"Are you sure?" Hades asked me.

"Yes, I'm sure." I told him.

"If you need anything remember that I'm two tents away." He told me while he pointed at the tent where he was supposedly sleeping in.

"I'll remember." I told him.

I entered my tent while he entered his tent.

Before I slept I thought of why Tristan thought that Hades and I were lovers, but no matter how much I thought about it, in the end, it didn't make sense to me. So, I closed my eyes and let myself to fall asleep.

I saw a thick and dark forest where a woman was running along with two children, who each were grabbing one of her hands.

I heard a voice of one of the children, who said, "Mommy, where were we going?"

"Somewhere safe." The mother said.

"Mommy, I'm tired! I want to rest!" The other child told her.

The mother briefly stopped running and looked around until she saw a hollow tree. The mother ran along with her children towards the hollow tree and she put her children inside the hollow tree while telling them, "We'll rest here until Therapon reaches us. Then, the four of us we'll ran away to a safer place. But, for now, rest."

"Mommy?" One of the children said.

"What's wrong, Pheres?" The mother asked.

"Why did we need to escape today? Right after Daddy's wedding?" Pheres asked his mother.

"I'll tell you tomorrow." The mother calmly said.

"But, Mommy, we did everything you told us. We delivered the golden dress and the golden coronet to Princess Glauce. So, why do we need to leave?" The other child asked.

"Don't worry, Mermeros. Like I told your brother, I'll tell you tomorrow." The mother said.

Both of the mother's children trusted there mother and decided to sleep. When they were asleep, the woman began singing a lullaby which appeared to send the children to a deeper sleep. Yet, I realized that, with every word that got out of her mouth, her caring brown eyes lost the love in them and instead that love was replaced by hatred. Then, when she finished singing, she grabbed a hidden dagger she was carrying.

I tried to run and stop her, but, when I tried, I realized that I couldn't move. I tried to tell her to stop, but no words came out from my mouth.

In the end, the woman's long wavy hair, which as black as the night itself, was covered with the blood of her children. A man came and upon seeing the horror, he asked, "My Mistress, why? Why have you committed this atrocity?"

The woman looked at her servant and with a cold and distant voice, she said, "Therapon, I gave him everything. I sacrificed everything for him. My life became his and the only thing I asked in return from him was his love. Yet, he betrayed me so, in retribution, I'll take everything from him and leave him nothing."

Therapon came closer to his Mistress and softly told her that they should hurry because Helios' chariot was waiting for them. Both of them went away from the scene of the crime, but, while Therapon's face showed sadness and disgust, the woman's face showed calmness and happiness.

I was disgusted by what I had witness and desperately tried to wake up. Yet, when I closed my eyes and opened them again, I found myself in a dark and large room. I saw a bed in a corner and the woman, who was sitting on the bed, looked at me and said, "You shouldn't have seen that."

The woman continued to repeat the same words over and over again. I tried to move and say something, but, like before, I was unable to do it.

The woman stopped saying those words and shouted, "GET OUT!"

I closed my eyes and, when I opened them, I was back in the tent.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Patrolling

The first thing I did was to look around my tent and check if this wasn't a dream as well. After I realized that I wasn't in another dream, I got out of the tent only to realize that it was dawn, yet the atmosphere felt somewhat tense.

"What's going on?" I thought, then I slowly walked towards Hades' tent, but I found out that there was no one inside.

Suddenly, I felt someone touching my right shoulder which immediately made me punch the person who touched my shoulder. After I attacked the person, I realized that the person I punched was Hades.

"Hades! What are you doing!?" I said in a low voice.

"I should ask you the same question." Hades said while he was standing back up.

When stood up, I was able to see the bruise I left on his cheek.

"I'm so sorry." I said.

"You don't have to apologize." Hades said.

"It's my fault." I reminded him.

"Well, when you put it that way-" Before Hades finished his sentence, we heard someone stepping on a branch.

We saw that the person who had stepped on the branch was Tristan.

"Hey, Ehno, are you tired already?" Tristan asked, but, when he saw us, he smirked and said, "If you wanted to be with Tesha, all you had to do was ask."

"No, I just heard someone in the camp and to my surprise it was Tesha." Hades said.

"What about the bruise?" Tristan asked.

"That would be my fault. I accidently punched him." I admitted.

"Oh, I see. Anyway, Tesha, it would be better if you go back to sleep." Tristan said.

"Thank you for the offer, Tristan. But, I'll have to decline. And, would one of you mind telling me why _you're_ still up?" I said.

"We're patrolling the area." Tristan said.

"All right. Then, can I patrol with you?" I said.

"Are you sure?" Hades asked me.

I nodded.

"Well, it's dawn. So, I see no harm." Tristan said.

Tristan handed me the sword he had and told me that I could take his post. After I received his sword, he headed to go back to his tent.

"Shall we get going?" Hades asked me.

"Lead the way." I told him.

We walked for a bit until we were a little bit far from the camp.

"How long have you been patrolling?" I asked.

"Since night." Hades told me.

"Really!?" I said.

Hades nodded.

"Only you and Tristan?" I asked.

"No, the rest were also patrolling." Hades said.

"Since when do you know about this?" I asked.

"I found out last night." Hades said.

"How?" I asked.

"I had trouble sleeping." Hades said.

I simply nodded.

Then, we saw a soldier walking nearby. Immediately, the both of us found a place to hide.

We heard the soldier's footsteps getting near our hiding place until we stopped hearing his steps. At first, I thought that he had left, but I turned around and saw that there was another soldier, who was trying to hide in order to strike.

I quickly said, "Watch out!"

Both of the soldiers were temporarily taken aback when I spoke out loud, yet they decided to attack us although, by the time they did, Hades and I were holding our swords and ready to fight.

The soldier, who was previously hiding, attacked me, but I managed to defend myself and so did Hades when he was attacked by the other soldier. Hades and I fought side by side against these soldiers, but we both saw that there was something inhuman about these soldiers.

First, it was the fact that, no matter how many injuries they received, they somehow managed to continue fighting as if they never got injured in the first place and, second, there eyes were empty as if there was nothing alive inside of them. And, finally, when Hades and I managed to kill them, their bodies dissolved into clay.

"Circe." Hades said in a low voice.

"What!?" I said.

Hades looked at me and said, "A powerful sorceress has decided to join this fight. We may all be in more danger than what we thought."

 _Author's Note_

 _Sorry for taking this long, but I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Walking

"We should warn the others!" I said.

Hades nodded and we both ran back to the camp.

When we returned to the camp, we saw that everyone was up and we quickly ran towards Xenias to whom we informed what we saw.

Xenias immediately said in a loud voice, "Everyone, we're heading out! Phase Clay!"

"What do you mean by 'Phase Clay'?" I asked Xenias.

"This isn't the first time that we've had to deal with clay soldiers." Xenias said.

I looked at Hades, who looked back at me and we both saw that we were worried about what was going to happen next.

Hades and I started to head out along with the rest, yet, while they were walking through the forest, Xenias suddenly told us to stop.

Everyone immediately stopped walking and hid behind trees.

Groups of soldiers were nearby, but each of them was wielding a weapon and, by the way they were walking, it seemed as if they were ready to attack at any moment.

All of us were anxiously waiting for them to move.

When all of the soldiers passed without noticing us, we remained in our hiding places until we smelled tat something was burning.

We weren't far away from the site that we were camping in, so, when I turned back, I saw how the soldiers burned everything to the ground.

When the soldiers officially left, Xenias told us to keep walking.

I don't know for how much time all of us walked, but at the time that we stopped walking it was already dark.

"Everyone, we will rest here for the night. We will need people to patrol the area and those who will patrol will need to be in pairs."

Some people, included myself, chose to patrol for the night.

I chose Xenias to be my partner for patrolling while Hades chose Tristan.

After some time of patrolling, I asked Xenias, "So, what was the objective of those clay soldiers?"

"They are scouts for the soldiers." Xenias said.

"I presume that you have already fought some of them." I said.

Xenias nodded.

We stopped when we heard a sound near us. We drew are weapons, and slowly approached the place were the sound was coming from.

To our surprise, the one who was making the sound was a female wolf, who had just given birth.

Upon realizing what the source of the sound was, Xenias and I returned to patrol.

"Do you know who makes the clay soldiers?" I asked Xenias.

"No one knows." Xenias told me.

"Aren't you afraid?" I asked Xenias.

"Afraid of what?" Xenias asked me.

"Of all of this. Fighting against enemies you barely know and with the odds against you." I clarified.

"Yes, I'm afraid, but I can't let that stop me. What about you, Princess Adrianna?" Xenias asked.

"Nowadays, I have very few things to fear, but, like you, I can't allow them to stop me." I said.

Xenias smiled for a moment.

For a great majority of the night we spent patrolling the area until we decided to rest and someone else took over for us.

When I arrived where the others were sleeping in, I saw that everyone was peacefully sleeping, yet I had a feeling that the peacefulness would not last.

I managed to find an empty space beneath a tree and slept there.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Loved Ones

I was in a room and I heard screams. Then, I a cry and someone said, "It's a boy!"

Suddenly, I was in the room where the woman, who had given birth, was holding her newborn boy.

I immediately recognize that woman as the woman who had killed both of her children, but this time the woman was lovingly holding her newborn son.

"Medus. My sweet little Medus." The woman said while she was holding her baby.

"My Mistress, are both of you fine?" Therapon asked.

"Come in here, Therapon. Look at him." The woman said.

Therapon entered the room and saw the woman and her baby.

"Isn't he beautiful." The woman said.

"Yes, my Mistress, he is." Therapon said.

"I decided to name him Medus. What do you think?" The woman said.

"It's a beautiful name." Therapon said.

"He's going to be a king, like his father." The woman said.

"I'm sure he is." Therapon said.

"I'm going to protect. No one is going to hurt him. I'll make sure of that." The woman said.

"Yes, my Mistress." Therapon said.

Suddenly, I was in a hallway and I heard a voice say, "Mommy, mommy!"

I managed to turn around and I saw a boy with black hair and dark brown eyes was happily running to meet his mother, who was at the end of the hallway.

"What's wrong, Medus?" The woman asked.

"Look!" The boy said while he extended his hands and a small green flame was formed on top of them.

"I can do magic!" Medus said with a big smile on his face.

"STOP!" The woman screamed at her child, who immediately fell to the floor.

The woman grabbed her own son's neck and began choking him.

I tried to run towards them and stop the woman from hurting her child any further, but, like last time, I couldn't move. Luckily, this time Therapon came in time to stop the mad woman from killing her own son.

"My Mistress, please stop that's your son Medus!" Therapon said while he tightly got a hold of her and pulled her away from Medus.

The woman calmed down and looked at her son, who was terrified and had bruises on his neck.

"My baby." The woman said.

Slowly, Therapon let her go and the woman approached her son and said, "Why are you so scared, Medus?"

When the woman saw the bruises, she began to cry and said, "I'm sorry." Over and over again until her son gently told her, "Don't worry, mommy."

Carefully, the woman touched her son's neck and began to heal the bruises while saying (either to herself or her son) that she wouldn't hurt him again.

It broke my heart just seeing the situation that she and her loved ones were in. Yet, I couldn't dwell in it too much because I found myself in the same dark room, I was last time in.

"Leave… LEAVE!" The woman screamed at me.

But, no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't leave.

Suddenly, the entire room began to shake and I felt a powerful presence around me.

"I told you to LEAVE!" the woman said as I felt that something was choking me.

But, before the woman could kill me, I heard someone say, "Mother, what's wrong!?"

Then, I woke up.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Edaphos

I woke up gasping for air.

I looked around and saw that it was dawn. Also, I saw that I was using some kind of blanket, but, after some time, I saw that it was actually a shirt.

"I see you're awake now." Hades said.

I flinched, saw that Hades wasn't wearing a shirt, and I told Hades, "Yes, and thank you for the shirt."

I handed him his shirt back and told him, "How long was I asleep."

"Not too long. When you were asleep, I gave you my shirt and, from then on, my patrolling was short." Hades said.

"Wait! You decided to do patrolling without your shirt?" I asked him.

Hades nodded and told me, "You seemed to needed more than me."

"Why?" I asked him.

"You were shivering on your sleep." He told me.

"Well, that explains it. After all, that dream was weird." I said.

"What did you dream of?" Hades asked me.

"Have you heard the names Medus and Therapon?" I asked him.

Hades was surprised and terrified when I told him those names.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Is this the first time you hear those names?" Hades asked me.

"No. The second." I told him.

"Well, this makes things more complicated." Hades said.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

Before Hades could answer me, we saw that everyone in the group was slowly waking up.

Upon seeing that everyone was waking up, the both of us decided to talk later.

When everyone woke up and the patrol units returned, Xenias said that we should keep walking.

We followed his orders and soon we entered a village… Or, rather what was left of it.

The remaining walls of the houses were covered in ashes, the fields were barren and burnt, while the people… Let's just says that the remaining corpses were being gnawed by hungry dogs.

Yet, this didn't stop anyone else in the group who just kept walking. Until, we entered the only house that somehow was still standing.

When we entered the house, Xenias punched the floor three times and said, "What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet at noon, and three feet in the evening?"

"Man. A baby crawls on all fours, then walks on twolegs as an adult and uses two legs and a cane when they're old." A voice said.

A hidden door on the floor opened and a woman came out of it.

"Hello, everyone." The woman said.

Everyone in the group, except for me and Hades, were happy to see the woman.

"It's been a while, Eirene." Xenias said.

"Yes, it has been a while. But, Xenias, who are those two?" Eirene said while pointing at me and Hades.

"They are Tesha and Ehno. They're new, but capable warriors." Xenias said.

"Well, in that case, what are we waiting for? Follow me." Eirene said.

Everybody followed her through the hidden door and we ended up in an underground base.

"Welcome to Edaphos." Eirene said.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Underground

"Edaphos?" I said.

"It's an experimental underground base." Eirene told me.

"Oh, I see." I said.

"Anyways, we should go to the center." Eirene said.

Everyone began to follow Eirene who took us to a big underground room that had very little light, but it was still visible. But, while we were walking, I touched the ground walls and noticed that there was something inside those walls.

When we arrived at the center, I saw that it was filled with different kinds of people and that there was a map in one of the center's walls.

"I'm going to guess that you're here because of the clay soldiers." Eirene told Xenias.

"Yes, how do you know?" Xenias asked.

"As of late they have been pretty active, but they left a very important place unprotected." Eirene said while she pointed at the map.

"The Acra Fortress?" Xenias said in disbelief.

"Exactly." Eirene said with a smile in her face.

"You have to be joking. The Acra Fortress is one of the best guarded fortresses. Believe me, I've tried to infiltrated several times." Tristan said.

"I'm not joking, Tristan. According to the information we have gathered, the main guards of the Fortress have retreated and there are no clay soldiers in sight." Eirene said.

"It's sounds like a trap." Ligo said.

"It does and that's why I need a team of 4 members to infiltrate it and verify if its truth." Eirene said.

"What about the other men that are in here?" Hades asked.

"Some of them make more tunnels while others are going to obtain information from villages near fortresses that, despite not being nearly as valuable as the Acra Fortresses, present a huge challenge to overcome." Eirene said.

"What makes the Acra Fortress so important?" I asked.

"The Acra Fortress is one of the most important military strongholds of the tyrant." Eirene said.

"I offer myself to infiltrate this fortress." I said without thinking.

Everyone looked at me with surprise.

"What?" I said.

"You really want to infiltrate the Acra Fortress?" Xenias asked me.

"Yes." I said.

"In that case, I'll go with you." Hades told me.

"And, me." Tristan said.

"Me too." Ligo said.

Hades and I looked at Ligo with disbelief.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" Ligo asked us.

"No." Hades and I said in unison.

"Well, what do you have to say about this Xenias?" Eirene asked him.

Xenias looked at me, Hades, Tristan, and Ligo.

"Be careful. I don't want to go there in order to pick up the remains of your corpses." Xenias said with a sad yet serious tone.

The four of us nodded in unison.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Silent

Eirene managed to take the four of us through a tunnel that would take us to a village near the Acra Fortress.

When we arrived at the village, Tristan told us to follow him because he knew where we could rest and gather information.

"Tristan, don't tell me that you are taking us to a-" Ligo got interrupted by Tristan, who said, "No, I'm not taking you _there_. And, Ligo, don't forget to use your child voice."

"Yes, I will use it." Ligo said with a voice that resembled a child, which momentarily cut both Hades and I off guard.

It didn't take long for us to reach a house in the village.

The person who opened the house was a middle-aged painter with dark brown hair and black eyes.

"Hello, Agalia. It's been a while!" Tristan said.

"It sure has been, Tristan." Agalia said.

When Agalia saw us, he said, "Please come in."

When we entered his house, Agalia closed the door and the windows. Then, he invited us to have dinner with him.

Before I could protest, Tristan whole heartedly accepted his invitation.

I was confused (to say the least), but, when we began to eat, Agalia began talking about diverse topics while he quietly teared of a small part of his cloth and used some of his paint to write in cloth: 'Why have you come here?'

Agalia passed the piece of cloth and the paint to Tristan, who wrote that we were going to infiltrate the Acra Fortress. Obviously, Agalia wrote back that we were insane, but that he knew of two people who could help us, but that he didn't know if they were trustworthy.

When Tristan wrote back: 'Why?', Agalia wrote that those two people were friends of the tyrant's advisor.

Suddenly, the mood of the room became very tense.

Yet, Agalia wrote that tomorrow he could guide us to where those two people were living in.

After that, Tristan said, "It's been a lovely chat my dear old friend, but I'm afraid that my friends and I need a place to stay for the night."

Agalia offered his basement for us to rest in.

When we entered the basement, I saw that the walls and floor were made out of rock and that it was with paints, paintings, and some rugs.

Before he left, Agalia apologized for the little space he had given us available and that we were free to use how many rugs we wanted.

When Agalia left, I asked Tristan why Agalia was writing while he was talking.

"The walls are thin." Tristan told me which I didn't understand.

"In other words, there are many people who could have listened to our conversation and reported us as traitors." Ligo explained.

"Why would they do that?" Hades asked.

"Money. If a civilian reports a traitor, then he or she gets enormous quantities of money." Tristan said.

That made me feel sad when I remembered the state of the impoverished village that we where in and it showed that there were people who would willingly betray there neighbors or friends to just escape the reality that they were currently living.

 _Author's Note_

 _New chapter and don't forget to RSS!_


End file.
